Prior to a reform that changed the patent term to 20 years from filing, a patent was active for 17 years from the date it issued. During this period, patent applications were not published. By delaying the issue date of a valuable patent, an applicant could wait until an industry had developed and only then let the patent issue. The industry would then be vulnerable to massive extortion. These hidden patents are colloquially known as “submarine patents.” The most famous holder of submarine patents is probably Jerome Lemelson.
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Much Ado About Injunctions: Redux
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Tuesday Markup of Litigation Funding Legislation
Although John Squires is busy destroying the PTAB—as of last week, he has now gone 0 for 34 on allowing institution of IPR petitions he reviews—the story in Congress is more positive. Tomorrow, t...
Step 1: Destroy IPR. Step 2: ??? Step 3: Profit.
Last week, the USPTO issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) containing major changes to the institution process for inter partes review. Combined with other changes made by the USPTO, inc...